Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth

The regional municipality was dissolved in 2001, and its constituent municipalities were amalgamated to form the current single-tier City of Hamilton, with a 2021 total population of 569,353.

Overview

Regional Municipalities were an experiment in two-tiered municipalities created between the late 1960s to mid-1970s. They existed mainly in the Golden Horseshoe of southern Ontario, but also existed in the form of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury in northern Ontario and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton in eastern Ontario. The regions were proved somewhat controversial upon their creation and the Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth was one of the last created by this process. Almost immediately after its creation, some sort of merger was advocated, with "Wentworth" being among some of the candidate names for the new megacity, despite the City of Hamilton functioning as the metropolitan core for the Region as a whole.

The Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth was established as an Upper-Tier Municipality and comprised the bulk of the former Wentworth County, of which it replaced. Its Lower-Tier Municipalities were, in order of population, the city of Hamilton, the town (later city) of Stoney Creek, the town of Ancaster, the town of Flamborough, the town of Dundas and the township of Glanbrook.

The Region provided policing, social services, and public transit (by taking over Hamilton Street Railway), while the lower-tier provided Fire Services and Recreation Services; although, both tiers shared the responsibility for maintaining Roads and Water. It was governed by a Regional Chair who presided over a Regional Council with representatives from each of Hamilton's wards and two each from other constituent municipalities. Near the end of its existence, the Regional Chair was chosen by Direct Election.